Share Your Office | Start-up Story

Share Your Office is a startup that aims to do something similar to Airbnb but not with residential properties. It is all about sharing your office space.

Having a well-maintained beautiful office is something that all young entrepreneurs dream about once they start a company but it costs a lot. It is a fact that for a startup to have their own office space along with additional costs of electricity, power back up, internet, etc can be very taxing. Share your office is the solution to such startups which act as a marketplace for office spaces and people who want commercial space. Clément Alteresco could see the problems that almost every new company faces and came up with an idea to help them by creating Share Your Office. The concept also works for big businesses that can share their extra space with startups.

Share Your Office Facts

Startup Vertical: Office Space Sharing.

Founder: Clément Alteresco.

Founded On: September 1, 2007.

Headquarters: San Francisco,

Website: https://www.shareyouroffice.com

About Share Your Office & Their Story

Q) Starting a platform for office space listings is definitely a great idea. Tell us something about Share Your Office and your personal motivation for starting this service?

Share Your Office is one of a few platforms that have emerged over the years that helps promote sharing between companies with the goal of renting out extra office space. While we service a number of different customers all with unique needs, our goal has always been simple: connecting small companies to allow them to make the most of their space.
For us, the idea is simple; we want people to better utilize what they have. In most places, rent is incredibly expensive. If we can help a company cut their costs by 10 – 20%, then we’ve felt like we’ve done our jobs.

Q) Can you give us a rundown of how it works?

Essentially, we have a two-sided process. Users and Listers.
For both parties, the way to get started is fairly straightforward. Individuals who are interested in listing with us simply need to sign up and post all relevant information about their location. Afterward, one of our employees will contact them to make sure all their needs are fulfilled.
For Users, the process is similar, simply they go onto the platform, look for a region in which they want to find an office; they have the option to filter it as need be – find a space they’re interested in, send a message and boom. You’re ready to tour a location.

Q) How did you solve the chicken and egg problem of listing spaces and finding customers?

It’s complicated, but it essentially involved reaching out to both sides simultaneously, in order to fill spaces. In order to get listers to continue to work with us, they need tenants, in order for tenants to use us, we need spaces. As such, we approached both simultaneously through marketing and outreach.

Q) Share Your Office has accomplished so much since its beginnings. What is the secret to your success?

Dedication and customer service. Lots of 1-on-1 with clientele to make sure we get them what they want.

Q) Can you shed some light on technology and tools used to build Share Your Office?

It’s an in-house platform, but that’s all I can say.

Q) What is one particular Marketing Tool or process which you swear by, that has helped you gain more users on the platform?

Lots of outbound calls and outreach to spaces, but the number 1 standard tool we’ve used is a healthy dose of Google AdWords.

Q) What is the hardest thing that you had to overcome during your journey of getting Share Your Office to where it is now?

I would say the hardest aspect is recognition and growing a user base. Today developing a platform without serious outside investment remains a challenge, as SEO and web growth is a slow game that can take years. As such, when your platform is heavily dependent upon web traffic, that waiting period can be killer.

Q) Are you planning to expand to more geographical locations? If yes, what would be your strategy?

Very likely, but it is some ways off. At the moment our goal is to corner the U.S market; that involves working city by city. It is a slow and difficult process.

Q) What do you feel is Share Your Office’s greatest achievement to date? How did you go about accomplishing it?

I would say simply getting to where we are in the current market has been a massive accomplishment. Becoming a competitor and an active participant in the cut-throat areas of SF and NYC has been amazing. We’re one of the top providers to those regions now.

Q) Where do you see Share Your Office in 5 years from now?

Ideally, we’ve expanded to reach all corners of the U.S. Once we take off at a rate that can propel us nationally I feel the success will keep on rolling.

Q) Any advice for startups trying to make it big or join the Sharing Economy?

Attentiveness to your customers. There’s a lot of platforms out there trying to do a lot. In order to make yourself stand out, you need to be easy to use, pretty, and rewarding. Make the process simple for your customers. When they use you, thank them and help them every step of the way. Make yourself important to the process, not an annoying step to go through. If you can do that, success will come with it.

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